Further Up and Further In: Orthodox Conversations with C.S. Lewis on Scripture and Theology

by Edith Humphrey

Publisher:

St Vladimir’s Seminary Press

, 2017

Overview

Drawing on C.S. Lewis’s broad corpus, both his beloved classics and his less well-known writings, Humphrey brings Lewis into conversation with Orthodox thinkers from the ancient past down to the present day, on subjects as diverse and challenging as the nature of reality, miracles, the ascetic life, the atonement, the last things, and the mystery of male and female.

Key Features

• Presents an Orthodox examination of the theology and works of C.S. Lewis
• Compares Lewis’s thought with Orthodox perspectives through history

Contents

• Mapping the Terrain
  • Lewis and Reepicheep: Reality and Mythology, Writing and Reading
  • Creation, “Sub-Creation,” and Thanksgiving
  • “Worldview,” Miracles, and Magic
• Travelling in Arduous Places
  • Thinking Carefully and Acting Ethically
  • Theodicy, Spiritual Blindness, and Ascesis
  • Blessings and Curses: Justice, Atonement, and The Great Exchange
• Plumbing the Depths and Climbing the Heights
  • Depravity and Possession
  • Blessings and Curses Revisited: Heaven and Hell
  • Sacrament and Essence, Masculine and Feminine

Endorsements

No 20th century Christian writer had as great an impact on the faithful of the West as C.S. Lewis. That’s why it is essential that a widely-read, deep-thinking Orthodox Christian hold a series of “conversations” with him, bringing forward both the brilliance of his work, and the corners where Orthodox faith would turn a different way. Edith Humphrey’s book is both invigorating and enjoyable, and sends me back to reread Lewis with a fresh perspective.

—Kh. Frederica Mathewes-Green, author, Welcome to the Orthodox Church

C.S. Lewis is a thinker much treasured by many Orthodox. Edith Humphrey’s clear, joyful, and accessible book brings Lewis into conversation with Orthodox thinkers and reveals many consistently Orthodox strands in the thought of this immensely popular Christian apologist.

—Very Rev. Dr Andrew Louth, professor emeritus, Durham University

For Christians of my generation to read this book is to begin to understand who we are. We are all children of C.S. Lewis. He wrote the stories that formed our imagination. He taught us how to be effective apologists in the age of technology. And he insisted that we take the Bible seriously. Thanks to Edith Humphrey for this keen, critical appreciation of a singular modern master.

—Scott Hahn, PhD, Franciscan University of Steubenville

With elegant writing, and perceptive literary and theological insight, Edith Humphrey is a sure and satisfying guide to the one she calls a guide to Reality. Both seasoned and new readers of Lewis—whatever their religious tradition—will be enlightened, enriched, and occasionally provoked by this delightful volume.

—Michael J. Gorman, PhD, St. Mary’s Seminary & University

Product Details

• Title: Further Up and Further In: Orthodox Conversations with C.S. Lewis on Scripture and Theology
• Author: Edith M. Humphrey
• Publisher: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press
• Publication Date: 2017
• Pages: 301
• Christian Group: Orthodox
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Topic: Theology

About Edith Humphrey

Dr. Edith M. Humphrey is the William F. Orr professor of New Testament at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Prior to her service at PTS, she taught at several colleges and universities in Canada, and was professor of Scripture at Augustine College, Ottawa, Canada, from 1997–2002, where in her final year she served as dean. She earned her doctorate from McGill University in Montreal, where she was awarded the Governor General’s Gold Medal. The author of numerous articles on the literary and rhetorical study of the Bible, she has also written four books, including And I Turned to See the Voice: The Rhetoric of Vision in the New Testament and Ecstasy and Intimacy: When the Holy Spirit Meets the Human Spirit. Humphrey is a also coauthor of a series of theological workbooks for congregational use, entitled Wrestling with God.